What a whirlwind of emotions it’s been. Twenty days filled with major upsets, history in the making, wildcard podiums, and waves, lots of great waves. The North Shore did not disappoint!
It’s exactly how you want the WSL to start the season. Pipe and Sunset certainly raised the bar of competition for years to come. The decision to kick off the season with two back-to-back events at waves of consequence worked out to be kinda genius from Elo (Erik Logan) and the WSL gang. It turns out that sometimes all it takes is a few gutsy calls to reap the rewards.
One such call was to throw the men and women back out for Finals Day on one of the smaller days of the event window. I would have expected a lay day or two waiting for more solid surf. But, ain’t complaining!
Gone were those freight trains and whiplash closeouts, but what Sunset was missing in size, it made up with some perfectly groomed 4-6ft runners for the men’s Quarters.
Sunset certainly dressed up for the occasion, and Caio Ibelli wasn’t too shabby either. Ibelli keeps slaying through the field, taking out local boy Zeke Lau as the replacement surfer for Gabe Medina, dropping a pair of 8s before breakfast to advance to the Semifinals.
Who would have thought we would watch Finals Day without a single world champ left in the draw? Steph, Kelly, Carissa, John, Italo, Tyler all bailed. In their place, we got wildcards, 16-year-olds, and rookies instead.
It’s one of the better Final Days we’ve had. Not because of the names, but rather because of the lack thereof. It’s cool to see surfers like Jack Robinson, Malia Manuel and Seth Moniz, who usually grind for re-qualification, getting a seat at the (finals) table. But, without the top names in the mix, it evened the playing field, giving others some time in the limelight.
Speaking of the limelight, Barron Mamiya is a f’ing star in the making! We’re so used to seeing him giving the world’s best a run for their money, but he just kind of cruised onto the scene this year – at least in a competitive sense. But he is the real deal, and no doubt, a future (full-time) CT competitor. But more on that later.
On the other side of the draw, one Aussie flexed his way into the Semis. Ethan Ewing planted a couple of close-to-excellent scores to make it look easy out there.
The other Aussie still in the mix had a shocker. Or, Igarashi came up clutch – depending on how you want to look at this thing. Either way, the (perhaps) most in-form surfer, Jack Robinson, bagged a pretty solid equal 5th. Definitely, a keeper heading into Portugal.
Finals Day going blow for blow, and the ladies put on a clinic in the Semis. On a pulsing swell, Malia Manuel came out victorious over fellow Hawaiian Gabriela Bryan for her 7th final on the CT. At the same time, Brisa Hennessy surfed her way into the first CT final ever for Costa Rica, defeating Hawaiian prodigy Bettylou Sakura Johnson in a slow-ish heat by Sunset standards.
It was a day of many back and forths, in and out of the water. Barron Mamiya came up clutch against Caio Ibelli, who perhaps made a priority mistake in the dying minutes, letting Mamiya go on a small, frothy one to get the score required to surf in his first-ever CT final. On the other side of the draw, Kanoa Igarashi took out Andy Irons Ethan Ewing with two mammoth scores to bag his 3rd final appearance on the CT.
I realise I’ve rushed through the action of the early hours of Finals Day, but for a good reason. There was so much to unpack, both in the water and statistically, in the last two heats of the Hawaiian CT season.
For starters, I don’t know the last time two wildcards made the final on the same day, in two different categories. I’d like to throw out a NEVER, fully aware that this might be flagged as #fakenews. Either way, it’s absurd. Both Barron Mamiya and Malia Manuel aren’t technically fully employed CT competitors. Malia was awarded the WSL wildcard at the end of last season to compete in the season’s first leg. On the other hand, Barron was awarded a wildcard on the merit of being a Pipe standout who could rattle some egos. Basically, for pure entertainment purposes.
And entertaining it was alright. Remember the heat at Pipeline where Barron almost took out the GOAT in Round 16? He shoulda / coulda won. But ultimately, this lead to the decision to award him with a Sunset wild / injury replacement card. For the lack of better alternatives, the WSL probably figured, “ah, what the heck, let’s see what the Pipe specialist can do up the road.”
He won the whole damn thing – that’s what he could do! In pretty impressive fashion, too, as he took on none other than Olympic Silver medalist Kanoa Igarashi from Japan (via Huntington Beach). He threw down a couple of 8s and a solid throwaway score to not only win in his own backyard but rip that yellow jersey right off Kelly’s perfectly groomed chest heading into Portugal. And yes, we’ll be seeing Barron in those sandy pits at Supertubos as well. A no brainer considering he’s the world number 1, baby!
If you liked the men’s final, you had been going f’ing bananas during the women’s main event. All the implications unravelling while Brisa Hennessey took on local standout Malia Manuel read like a god damn trivia contest.
Brisa Hennessey not only made her first-ever CT final, but she also triumphed with steady-eddy surfing and a couple of solid mid-range scores.
Make no mistake, Brisa Hennessey’s win wasn’t a surprise. She surfed like a rockstar all through the event, taking out big names and prodigal rookies in the process. But, just like Malia and Barron, Brisa Hennessey’s year 2021 was, for the most part, a write-off. She barely made the cut having to grind it out on the Challenger Series for re-qualification, making her Quarterfinal finish at Pipeline and her victory at Sunset all that much more impressive.
For Malia Manuel’s part, you have to feel for her. It’s the 7th runner-up finish for the most-inform surfer of the event. To me, she’d looked like a possible event champion ever since her matchup against Tyler Wright in Round 16, where she laid down a nasty hook on an 8ft Sunset belter.
Nevertheless, she’s heading into Portugal sitting within 2000-and-some-change points to snatch the yellow, leader jersey off Brisa Hennessey when the show continues over on the old continent.
And just like that, Hawaii is all over!
